The Billionaire’s High School Reunion
Author: April Murdock
Reviewer: Jen
Rating: D
September’s optional theme: Lush Life
What I’m Talking About:
When scanning my backlog of books for one that satisfied this month’s optional TBR theme Lush Life, I figured this old freebie from 2019 would suit my needs. I was doubly excited when I found out that no one knows our MMC is a billionaire, making a match for one of my Romance Bingo Squares!
Blake and Trista were high school sweethearts, but when she decided to go away to California for college while Blake stayed local and played football at Ohio State, their relationship blew up. Now it’s their ten-year reunion, and Blake returns to his small town a changed man.
The Billionaire’s High School Reunion is a fairly short book, covering about a week of time. Both main characters have had successful lives, he went on to play in the NFL and hosts a show on ESPN with his best friend while she became a lawyer and recently opened her own firm. Neither has time for a relationship, but both feel a sense something is missing. Blake knows Trista is the only one for him and goes all in trying to win her back.
The author nails the tone of a high school reunion setting. There is a lot of remembering and reminiscing, while each is fearful of what the other thinks, nervous about sharing truths. Justifiable so, both characters spend a lot of time thinking about the past, their choices, and what ifs. However, there is a lack of quality conversation and an abundance of assumptions.
The story is very predictable and not in a good way. After ten years, everyone seems to be filling the same role they did in high school. Each character is an over-the-top stereotype. From the over-protective best friend, to the beautiful but bitchy mean girl, to the nerd with a chip on his shoulder, to the outrageous mom who is deep in her son’s business, to the stoic dad reading the newspaper. I was disappointed that the author didn’t shake things up, choosing a well-worn storytelling path instead.
The Billionaire’s High School Reunion is simple and sweet, without even a sexy kiss to spice things up. Most of the characters are annoying because they are so one-dimensional, which ruined the overall story for me.
My Rating: D
Jen
About the Book:
Friendship turns into young love, a nasty breakup, and maybe a second chance. Can this billionaire make his great life perfect?
Blake Murphy wants redemption. More than that, he wants a second chance.
He’d been avoiding his home town since the day he left for college. Trista Kennedy was still there and he had no idea how he’d face her after the way he’d treated her. But now he’d find out. His high school reunion was coming up.
Trista had moved on from Blake. Until she saw him at their high school reunion.
He was handsome, rich, and easy going. He’d only been boyishly good looking in high school. So much had happened in a decade.
Getting to know him as an adult is easier than she expected. But she’s not sure she can trust him.
But she felt something. Yearning. What might have been. Regret. She thought he felt it, too.
Is there a chance to mend broken relationships in the heat of a small Arizona town after a decade apart?
Release Date: February 6, 2019
Publisher: Sweet River Publishing
Series: Small Town Billionaires #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Format(s): paperback (160 pages), e-book, audiobook
Book Source: purchased with my own funds
#TBRChallenge 2026: Lush Life
#RRBC 2026: Secret Royal/Billionaire